Coping with your “End of Suburbia Moment”
How might one best manage the feelings of overwhelm, devastation, and defeat that can accompany your “End of Suburbia moment” —the point when you really “get” [economic contraction] and its implications? The first point is to realize that feeling like this is natural. Indeed, it is far more natural than feeling nothing or blanking it out. It is a healthy response.
Secondly, seek to generate what Chris Johnstone calls “Inspirational Dissatisfaction,” where the feelings generated motivate you to make changes in your life. Acknowledge that the change you want to see starts with you. View the feeling that your life has been turned on its head as a precious opportunity to rethink some basic assumptions.
Finally, don’t rush it. Take some time to just sit with this new awareness. Although it feels uncomfortable, within it lies—as in the bleak opening chapters of most adventure stories—a call to adventure. You will come to look back on this as a major, but positive, transition in your life.
–modified from Rob Hopkins, The Transition Handbook
